Should 'Overwatch' Just Cut Bastion From The Game Entirely?

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Photo: Blizzard

The Overwatch open beta is coming to an end tomorrow, and it was likely the first experience with the game for many players who were unable to secure keys for previous closed tests. Reaction seems to be generally pretty positive about the shooter, though are a few common complaints.

One of them is about Bastion, and as someone who has been playing the game since the very first closed alpha last year, I have heard this song and dance a million times at this point. And I can’t say everyone griping about him is wrong.

The focus of these complaints is mainly about how annoying it is to play against Bastion. In a game that is all about offense/defense objectives, a character that transforms into a turret that can effectively lock down an area and shred all comers is a pretty significant factor in the game.

I have seen Bastion go through many, many iterations, most of them quite strong. Originally, he had a front-facing shield that would recharge if given enough time. Later, he had a huge pool of health and armor. Now, he’s a lot more fragile, but his damage is still insane. Even as a tank, if you accidentally wander into Bastion’s line of sight for more than a second, you can be decimated instantly.

Whenever this topic comes up, everyone is quick to talk about how there are counters to Bastion, and this is true. He can be flanked by many heroes like Reaper, Tracer and Genji (though now with a 360 field of view, that has become far less effective). He can be sniped by Widowmaker and Genji, or bulldozed by Reinhardt. But the fundamentally problem with Bastion is that in all his iterations, he becomes the focal pointof the game. In capturing an objective, he is first and foremost on everyone’s mind. Tucked into a corner or behind a wall, everything becomes about “how can we kill this damn turret?”

Photo: Blizzard

Take the Temple of Anubis for example. It’s a map with two defensive points, and two very, very good spots for Bastion. One is tucked into a little hole in the wall that is nearly impossible to flank, and has a full view of the defense zone. On the second point, you can hide behind the wall and face inward toward the zone. BlayinI have gotten multiple team kills sitting here, as a Reinhardt or Winston will charge in with their entire team behind them, and I will shred them all before they can even turn and face me.

But should Bastion actually be cut from the game like my title proposes? Not necessarily, but my reason for even putting this on the table isn’t just because he’s annoying to play against, it’s that his kit, compared to every other Overwatch hero, is just so…boring. For me, playing as Bastion is just as big of an issue for the character as playing against him.

Essentially, Bastion doesn’t even have a kit. Take a character like Junkrat. He shoots grenades, lays traps in choke points, uses triggered explosives for damage, jumps or disruption, has a guided ultimate and drops grenades when he dies. Now that is a kit.

Bastion transforms into a turret. He cannot move. He does a lot damage. Sometimes, you will die or have to reposition, and you simply pray that you are not caught out in the open in not-turret form. One of his moves heals himself. His ultimate is the only interesting thing about him, but half the time, it’s in your best interest to stay put as a turret than start roaming as a tank and lose your prime piece of butt-warming real-estate.

Original Bastion (Photo: Blizzard)

I have played Bastion games where I was threatened to be auto-kicked for a lack of movement. How is that a well-designed hero, when at his most effective, he has to stay in a corner and simply wave his barrel around killing enemies? Compared to every other hero, it’s just so out of place in this game. Other turret heroes, Torbjorn and Symmetra, have duties all around the map giving out shields and armor and firing their own weapons while their turrets play defense. Bastion sits. And waits. And shoots. And repeats. Altering his damage or health or accuracy to make him more "balanced" is not going to make him any more fun.

Blizzard seems like they’ve had trouble with Bastion from the start. He has experienced more changes than any other hero in the game by a mile through all these betas, and in Gamespot’s recent Overwatch interview series, Blizzard talked about how they’ve gone through a zillion different drafts of the character and his ultimate in particular.

My answer? I don’t think Bastion should be cut. He’s a part of the game now, and I like his little bird. But I do think he should be dramatically reworked to his very core. Make him a new kind of Omnic defense hero but one that does not simply root himself to the ground and become the focal point of every match. When someone isn’t fun to play against, and isn’t fun to play, something is wrong. And something is very, very wrong with Bastion, and has been since day one of Overwatch’s alphas.